Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Ix-nay on the earning-lay, Mike.

There's a (probably apocryphal) story about a highly-regarded rookie NFL wide receiver who, upon scoring his first pro touchdown, celebrated wildly in the end zone. There was all manner of back-slapping, high-fiving, dancing, shuffling and downright gettin' jiggy with it. Throughout all of this, his head coach said nothing.

At the occasion of the second touchdown, there was again all manner of celebratory hoopla, accompanied by the receiver's new carefully-choreographed victory dance that he'd obviously been practising. And once again, the head coach held his tongue.

When the third touchdown produced even bigger and better festivities, the head coach finally called the youngster over and said quietly, "Son, you have a bright future in this league. But if you really want people to think you're a threat to get in the end zone every time you touch the ball, you might consider not making it seem like such a major accomplishment when you do."

Which brings us to this piece by Impolitical (from whom the post title is shamelessly stolen), where we learn that Michael Ignatieff admits that he is "learning" stuff.

Memo to Michael Ignatieff: We don't care about your ongoing journey of personal discovery. Instead of explaining how you're growing into your position, howzabout you act as if you simply belong there? It's just a thought.

3 comments:

I'm just glad Ignatieff is failing on his own merits. If he's really serious about valuing learning experiences, this one, undoubtedly, will be a wonderful coda to his charmed life and "brilliant" career.